


Three First Dates

by quickwest



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-08-08 10:51:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7754854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quickwest/pseuds/quickwest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I finally wrote something again! Kinda nervous but this was inspired by all the spoiler pics and @briellableu‘s headcanon about their first two dates failing and the third one being great (again, thanks to her for letting me use the idea! except the ending is different). This is like three mini fics in one so it’s in sections with each “chapter” title in bold. And the last date is dedicated to @locostnanny who sent me the idea a while ago, but I just couldn’t figure out how to make it work. Anyway, done babbling now, enjoy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Three First Dates

**I ‘Heart’ Iris**

Barry was standing in the mirror adjusting and readjusting his blue tie. He had to do something to distract himself until it was time to leave. He made sure his hair was perfectly cut and gelled, not one strand out of place. Then he scanned his body up and down to make sure there wasn’t a single wrinkle on his light gray suit; it had been a while since he last wore it.

In fact, the last time he did, it was when he took Iris to the event at Stagg Industries. He remembered it clearly because it was when he fainted after getting his powers; he wasn’t eating enough for his body’s new high metabolism. Barry also remembered seeing Iris in the pale pink dress that looked as beautiful on her as ever. She was nervous, covering the event for CCPN. It made him laugh that back then she brushed off an interview with Simon Stagg, but now she would fight tooth and nail to get a story like that.

It was near seven o’clock now so that meant it was time to go. Barry asked Iris to meet him outside of CCPN so they could make it in time for their dinner reservation, but he also had something else planned. And it wasn’t crazy of him, right? This was Iris, she deserved the best, and so before he could convince himself that this was crazy, he sped out of the house.

Before he could even blink, he was outside of Picture News’ office, and the floral arrangements were to his right. The vibrant red and yellow flowers shone in the nighttime; the gust of wind that followed him almost knocked them over, so he fixed the structures and his damn blue tie before Iris got outside. His heart sped faster than it ever did before, but this was meant to happen, meant to be, so he waited for Iris to come outside.

Iris was typing rapidly away on her computer while working on a story about a new research program that Central City Hospital sponsored with the local university. Although the subject interested her and she was able to interview the head of the program at the hospital, she wanted to finish the story so that she could meet Barry in time for dinner.

Eagerly, she hit ‘Save’ on her story and shut off her computer. Barry would be outside anytime soon. As she stood up from her computer, she smoothed her dress down, adjusting the skirt. It was brand new and since Barry wouldn’t tell her anything about their date besides the fact that they were getting dinner, she wandered around the boutique she bought it from for an hour.

* * *

 

“Finding everything okay?” a store clerk asked, interrupting her thoughts.

“Yeah,” Iris replied, throwing a smile on her face, “yeah, I’m just looking.”

The short, brunette employee watched Iris intently for a second with curious big brown eyes and a wrinkle of stress on her forehead, but then she nodded and walked away and Iris’s spotted the black printed dress with accents of red and pink behind her; it was perfect.

So now she stood up from her computer, adjusted her skirt and grabbed her jacket from the back of the black swivel chair that she was sitting on a minute before.

“Iris,” one of her coworkers called, it wasn’t until she looked up and saw that it was another news reporter that she often shared sources with, her name was Lucy.

“Hey,” she smiled, “what’s up?”

“Are you about to leave?” Lucy asked.

“Yeah, I’ve got a date and I don’t want to be late,” Iris said excitedly and gestured to the door hoping that Lucy would take the hint.

“Uh, wait, you can’t go out that way,” Lucy said, quickly stopping Iris in her tracks

“Why not?” Iris paused looking between the door and Lucy who pulled quickly at her short blond hair.

“Fresh cement, you have go through the back,” her nervous coworker said, her voice fast pushing all the words into one sentence.

There wasn’t any fresh cement; if there was, Iris would have seen people working out there earlier, but the noise coming from outside all day were people walking in and out of the office, talking about their day, the random lunches they ate, and the stories they were assigned, but she sighed.

“Okay, I’ll go through the back to entertain you but just to let you know, I don’t believe that cement story,” Iris informed Lucy and resisted the urge to laugh.

This was obviously Barry, and she almost cursed herself for not suspecting he would try to surprise her. He remained mum about their date besides telling her:

“We’re having dinner, just, you know dress nice,” Barry smiled then it faded, “not that you don’t always look nice because you do, literally all the time, but dress nice for this dinner.”

And Iris swore under her breath because Barry was good at surprises especially when he gave her a replica of her mom’s wedding band for Christmas a couple years ago. She pushed open the heavy steel door, exiting CCPN, the cool air of the night hitting her exposed skin, but that chill didn’t even compare to the shock to her system when she looked up.

“Barry,” she wasn’t even sure she said it because she was too busy looking at what was in front of her. The flowers, all the flowers. And an elated Barry in his suit standing next to them. ‘I <3 Iris.’

“ _Barry_ ,” she said again.

* * *

 

_Calm down, calm down, calm down_ , he kept thinking. It was like a chant in his head, but this could go either really good or really bad. On one hand, Iris could love the flowers and think it was a nice gesture, or she could hate them a lot and think it was cheesy. What if this _was_ weird? But Iris loved flowers; he was sure of it. With her, he had to be.

He heard the door open and the click of her heels on the concrete. The waiting was the tough part; he was always waiting. It felt like the time he told her he loved her, really loved her. Anxiety boiled in his belly shaking into a release through sweaty palms and trickles of sweat down his forehead, like being on a roller coaster or some other crappy metaphor that he couldn’t think of at the moment.

Iris finally appeared. Without even thinking, he touched his tie again, making sure it was still straight, but it didn’t even matter because there she was, and she was beautiful. The shock struck her face and she stood gaping at what was in front of her.

“Barry,” she said, but was quiet for a second as she looked at the flower arrangements and then at him. “ _Barry_ , what is all of this?”

“What do you think?” he asked with a laugh.

“Wow,” she said, her eyes fixed on the scarlet and golden flowers, “I heart Iris. I can’t believe you did all this.”

“What? I-Is it too much?” Barry asked, looking between the beauty in front of him and the flowers next to him. God, he knew this was crazy, it was way too over the top.

Iris grabbed his hand and smiled, her eyes looked glassy. “No, Barry, I love it.”

“Good,” he blew out a breath of air feeling the anxiety pour out of his body and just left him with the good nerves, the butterflies. “I wanted it to be perfect.”

“It is,” Iris said and their fingers intertwined

It was quiet for a bit, but he liked the silence because it felt like they were floating instead of walking. Looking a little to his right, Barry caught her eye and couldn’t hide her smile. She looked perfect at any time of day, but the nighttime brought out a beauty in her that made him wonder how anything else in the world could exist. She bit down on her lip, and in that second, he wished that it was his lips that were closed over hers. But then their hands swung forward and he chuckled a bit.

“What?” Iris asked.

“Nothin,’” Barry replied with a shrug and boyish grin plastered on his face.

“What?” Iris asked again.

Looking at his hand again, he smiled and pointed, “You’re holding my hand.”

When she looked at him, perplexed at his sudden outburst, he furthered explained, “We’re really holding hands.”

They got to the restaurant a few minutes later, and Iris ‘oohed’ at the fancy, Italian restaurant. The vintage feel was due to the soft, low lights and wooden bar with wine glasses hanging from the rack above it. The tables were full of people dressed for probably the same reason that Barry and Iris were.

Just as the waiter was about to direct them to their table, in a secluded section of the restaurant that only had two or three couples there talking in hushed voices and smiling shyly over their dishes and sipping glasses of wine, Barry’s phone started ringing, a loud alert that caused various people to look at them.

Barry sighed, reluctant upon reading Cisco’s name on his phone and put his hand up, gesturing for the waiter to hold on a minute. Iris looked at him only concerned so she followed him outside. For the past few days, the team was trying to track a metahuman with magnetic abilities and the desire to destroy Central City. It had been hell to find her and of course now they did.

“I’ll be there,” Barry said, hanging up except he didn’t want to leave, not when he finally had Iris.

“Was that Cisco?” Iris asked.

“Yeah,” Barry hesitated.

“Let’s go!” Iris said without even thinking and held her hand out for him to grab.

To say he was surprised was an understatement and looked at her until she pushed her hand out further, gesturing for them to go. They were at STAR Labs in less than a minute, rushing in seeing Cisco turn in his chair while papers flew around the cortex. Barry noted that because of the run in, his tie got screwed up again.

“Where is she?” Barry asked, charging towards his suit.

“Water tower, Fifth and Thirty-second,” Cisco replied, chewing on a piece of red licorice while Barry sped into his Flash suit.

He muttered an okay and before leaving, he stopped in front of Iris, grateful that she was so understanding.

“I owe you a second first date,” Barry said, adjusting the mask of his suit.

“It’s fine, Barry, go,” Iris encouraged before he sped off. Papers and her hair flew around STAR Labs while she toyed with the ring on her necklace.

**I Promise**

Barry surprised Iris again for their second first date, but this time he took her to dinner on a yacht at the waterfront. The whole time they were nervous, so nervous that they barely touched their food. Barry was surprised that they got through dinner without any interruptions.

And then they walked around until they stopped, talking about sweet nothings.

“You know, you’re kind of incredible when it comes to first dates,” Iris said, her hands ran up the lapel of his navy suit slowly then stopped when she locked them around his neck.

“Only when it comes to you,” Barry said, and then he might’ve said something about how beautiful she looked, but all thoughts disappeared because she leaned up and kissed him.

Her warm hands cupped his face and her lips pressed into his softly at first, and his hand slid across the small of her back holding her like she was his. He heard her small sigh, content as she closed the remaining space between them.

He thought that kissing Iris was like freezing time, not erasing it or moving too fast, but suspending it just enough to keep the moment close to him forever. She made it so that the yacht wasn’t so wobbly, and the twinkling fairy lights that surrounding them blurred together.

Barry was the first to break it apart, reluctant. If they could have stayed like that forever, he would have made sure of it. But then an alert came on his phone, a loud clanging alarm sounded. _Beep, beep, beep,_ and he hated that sound.

“Not again,” he sighed and dug his hand into his pant pocket where the screen read “Cisco 911.”

“Go,” Iris urged.

He took a hesitant step away, but then looked back at her, and couldn’t believe that another date was being interrupted. The feeling sucked more than that one time he kissed her at the waterfront and accidentally turned back time because now it was clear that they were kissing, but he chose to leave her again.

“I’ll make it up to you, I promise,” he murmured.

“You worry too much. They need you right now, Barry, so go be a hero. It’s okay, I’ll still be here,” Iris smiled.

Barry was always promised many things in his life early on until the point where he wanted to give up on believing in them. Promises about getting his dad out of jail before he graduated college or promises for more investigation of his mother’s murder. Promises for there to be more for him, but he never believed them, not until Iris was the one making the promises. When she told him that she would wait for him after his dad died, she made that promise and never broke it. And he knew to trust her promise now because he could go be the city’s hero but still go home to her.

“Okay,” he nodded, and before he left, he kissed her once more, vowing that he’d always come back to her.

**One of Those Old Romance Movies**

Barry came to a screeching halt, carefully setting Iris down steadily on her feet making sure that she was balanced in her black heels. They stood under a building siding that did its best to shield them from the rain.

“Are you okay?” he asked, trying to catch his breath.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” she smiled, running a hand through her perfectly curled black hair when he whipped off his suit jacket to cover her bare arms.

He didn’t know, but then peered over to his right where a sudden downpour was drenching Central City, almost soaking them had Barry not been able to speed them to a vacant sidewalk where a siding of a bank was able to keep them shielded from the rain for a bit.

And yet Iris still managed to look…perfect. The dress she was wearing fit her like a glove and cut off just above her knees with thin straps. It was dark purple; Barry didn’t know exactly what shade, maybe plum, but it didn’t matter because it was beautiful.

“Come on,” Iris said excitedly, tugging on his hand.

“What? It’s raining,” Barry obliged, looking at the fat rain drops that drenched the streets.

“That’s the point,” she said giving him that cute smile that he always loved about her.

She bit her bottom lip, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Her eyes twinkled and he couldn’t tell if it was from excitement or the little rain drops on her eyelashes. Her hand tightened around his, and their fingers laced together. With that smile and her hand in his, she could convince him to do just about anything. Barry couldn’t resist it anymore, so he smiled.

“Fine,” he sighed. 

Her infectious giggle carried them out from under the panel on the side of the building as he ran like a child, at normal human speed following Iris back into the middle of the vacant parking lot.

He stopped and watched her twirl in a circle with her arms spread out, her body forming a T. She hung her head back and her black hair that started off in perfect curly waves became loose and wet as it flowed in the wind.

“Iris,” Barry laughed, “What are you doing?”

“Dancing in the rain,” she shrugged nonchalantly, grabbing his hands. 

“Why?”

“Why not?” she retorted, wrapping her arms around his neck. Without even thinking, his were around her waist pulling her in close and she started to sway, moving them into a slow, silent dance where there wasn’t any music but only moved at the rhythm of his wild heart.

“I’m sorry that our third first date ended up being such a bust, again,” Barry exhaled after a minute.

“It wasn’t a bust,” Iris said, pulling her head back to look at him, “In fact, I had fun.”

“Really?” Barry snorted as if it was the most incredulous thing he’d ever heard.

“Yeah. Barry, you surprised me with all flowers, which were amazing, we had dinner on a yacht, and now I’m dancing in the rain. No one has ever done anything remotely close to this for me before,” she explained with a smile, “and it’s like one of those old romance movies.”

He was making a face and he couldn’t help it; he scowled and a frown quickly followed. She was being too sympathetic and felt too much pity on him. It was her way of saving him from more embarrassment.

“You deserve this to be perfect, and it hasn’t,” he said.

“Yes, it has,” she interrupted, cupping his face in her delicate hands, the warmth a contradiction to the cold raindrops that continued to fall on them.

He looked at her immediately feeling calmer. It never ceased to surprise him how she was able to bring him peace inside; the world could be collapsing and one look at her would relax him. Maybe it was her eyes that did that; the gems guiding to a place where only they could exist. If he could kiss her, he would have her wrapped around him to silence the rest of the world.

She stood on her tiptoes, her lips meeting his cheek eliciting a soft sigh, forcing his own to escape.

“You do realize that we could have done anything for our first date and it still would’ve been just as amazing because I’m with you. So we had a couple interruptions, it doesn’t matter to me because I finally got to go on a date with you, Barry,” Iris said.

“Really?” he asked again.

“Yes, really,” Iris nodded.

“Okay, good. I was running out of suits,” he cracked, knowing that it was a lame joke but she laughed anyway until a silence fell through them.

Barry looked up at the sky to see the drops of water coming down more rapidly, each splashing his face. His hand rested on the back of her head as if he could shield her from it, but he wasn’t sure why he thought it would help.

“This rain won’t let up anytime soon, will it?” Barry asked.

“No,” she replied, “I thought it would’ve stopped by now.”

“You guessed wrong,” Barry chuckled, peering down at her.

She was still looking up, transfixed at the storm, and she blinked through her thick, wet eyelashes. To him, she was the rain; she was the spontaneity it brought on to everyday lives, the breath of fresh air, and the reason why the world wasn’t so bland. When it all seemed over and done with, she was as serene as the sky, and when nature brought its beauty with vibrant gardens, hers marveled through his life.

“Hey Bear,” Iris said, snapping him away from his thoughts when her gaze was on him again.

“Hmm?”

“I’ve always wanted to be kissed in the rain,” she murmured.

Barry didn’t even hesitate to kiss her. At first it was so delicate that it was just enough to feel her soft lips against his then her hands whispered up his neck and her fingers tangled in his hair and he let go he fell as quick as the raindrops overhead. He kissed her deep, not caring about finesse because it was about them sinking into each other. The palms of his hands flattened across her back, holding her tighter against his body.

When he pulled away, he could have sworn he heard her mumble something like ‘wow,’ but there was no point in guessing when that kiss felt as such. Barry almost wanted to touch his lips because he still felt hers on them. He felt the spot on his bottom lip that she softly nibbled at and his top tingled, remembering the moment she captured it between hers and he let out a small gasp. When her tongue met his, he felt himself go weak at the knees. It was like rain: the rush of adrenaline that spiked through his veins when they ran through it without a care in the world because they had each other.

Before he had a chance to process anything else, Iris was out of his grasp and running across the parking lot.

“What are you..?” he asked and spun around, seeing that she stopped at the nearest streetlamp and wore a teasing grin on her face. “Where are you going?”

“It’s time to go home. I’m freezing, and this rain is never going to stop,” she explained and started to saunter backwards, “I think I need someone to warm me up.”

He couldn’t stop the laugh when he used his speed to catch up to her, lifting her into his arms. Iris was right; it didn’t seem like the rain was going to stop anytime soon, and he didn’t want it to.


End file.
